Interview with Dr. Grasso

When I asked Dr. Grasso if "literal meaning has fallen into disfavor in academia" as stated in Mulroy's text, he replied that it has not. He stated that, "there is a trend among some professors to fear that this 'new generation of learners' are too visual to confront the text. So to reach them, the ideology is to focus much less on the word and try to engage them in media instead." But, literal meaning is still taught and he believes that most professors do promote the literal meaning of a text. Grasso believes that even though aspects can be added to a text, such as biography, culture, etc., the words will always remain the main focus. The word is the most authentic part of a work, the heart. Authors decide on each and every word for a reason. With this in mind, Grasso said that "the importance of literal meaning is empowerment," meaning that once you have the literal meaning of a text, you don't have to assume, you can back up your thoughts.

Taking the focus more towards grammar instruction, Grasso said that "Grammar instruction is not declining in academia." He made the remark pertaining to grammar and literature that "I still don't think it's in decline, just that there is a trend--and trends go away."